Various types of packaging systems have been designed to package articles, such as cans or bottles, into a unitary container, such as a paperboard carton. Typically, the articles are grouped in some manner to correspond with the approximate container dimensions, and the article group is then transferred into the container. Frequently an insert or partition is placed between the articles in the packaged group to maintain the integrity of the articles.
Many of the known packaging infeed assemblies or systems divide a nested mass of articles into separate lanes of articles prior to placing the articles within the container. The articles are divided into separate lanes for various reasons, such as to form article groups or to drop a partition between the articles. An example of a commonly used system for dividing the articles into separate lanes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,795 to Cheney et al., which includes a centrally disposed lane divider for separating an unordered mass of articles being transported along a packaging machine into two separate groups of articles. The two separate groups of articles are then divided into individual lanes of articles using a plurality of lane dividers. The lane dividers form lanes with widths approximately equal to the width of an article.
A problem with many of the prior packaging systems, including the one disclosed in Cheney et al., is that the articles are not smoothly divided into the separate lanes. Instead, because the articles are in an unordered mass, the forward tips or ends of the lane dividers often impact the front side of the advancing articles near the center of the articles, thereby violently moving or jarring the articles into the lane. As a result, the articles may become damaged during the packaging process. This problem often is exacerbated when the packaging machine is being operated at higher speeds, thereby advancing the articles faster along their paths of travel. In order to reduce the amount of damage to the articles and to minimize the resulting interruptions to the process flow, the packaging systems must operate at lower speeds, thereby lowering the efficiency of the system.
Another type of packaging system is similar to the type disclosed in Cheney et al..in that it includes a lane divider, initially centrally disposed between the side rails. Additional lane dividers sometimes are positioned rearwardly from and to each side of the initial, central lane divider. The central lane divider is positioned near the points of contact between the articles to more smoothly divide the mass of articles into two groups. Additional lane dividers, however, are positioned to form lanes with widths essentially equal to that of the articles, and so impact the front side of the advancing articles near their centers, as in the first prior art embodiment discussed above. Thus, while the mass of articles can be divided more smoothly into the first two groups, the articles thereafter are violently jarred when being divided into the individual lanes, especially at higher machine speeds. Consequently, to reduce the amount of damage to the articles, the packaging system also preferably must operate at lower speeds. Further, since the initial lane divider in this system is centrally disposed, with additional dividers to each side and rearwardly, a phenomenon occurs in which spaces between articles at least the size of one article tend to remain as the articles are advanced downstream toward the initial divider. The existence of such spaces can interrupt or prevent smooth article group division. Obviously, however, in the case of cylindrical articles, a small void between nested articles will always occur, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.